Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Montgomery County land deal moves sale of old school closer
The Blacksburg Middle School site has been in governmental limbo for more than a year. Details of the deal
CHRISTIANSBURG -- The eventual sale and development of the old Blacksburg Middle School gained momentum Monday when the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted to buy 86 acres of vacant land off Prices Fork Road in Blacksburg for a new football stadium.
Building a new stadium has been a major hurdle for the county in the long saga of the old middle school site, 20 acres in downtown Blacksburg that county and town officials hope to sell or lease to a developer.
The Blacksburg High Bruins have long played at the old middle school.
The purchase would also give the county space for a new high school if one is needed.
"It would be thrilling if we could have a ball field and a high school," school board Chairwoman Tacy Newell-Foutz said Tuesday after hearing about the $1.3-million land deal between the county and Blacksburg developer Georgia Anne Snyder-Falkinham.
Controlled by the school board, owned by the county and zoned by Blacksburg Town Council, the old school site has been stuck in governmental limbo for more than a year as developers have lined up to pitch ideas for the property.
Supervisor Jim Politis on Tuesday called the agreement "a sweet deal" for the county because 17 of the 86 acres front Merrimac Road and "will be very valuable" if the county chooses to someday sell it.
Supervisor Steve Spradlin voted against the contract because of that 17 acres.
"I just wanted to have a clearer definition for uses we're going to have for the land," Spradlin said Monday after the vote.
Snyder-Falkinham will have first right of refusal on the 17 acres should the county decide to sell. She has in the past tried unsuccessfully to develop the property, which used to be part of the old Kipps family farm.
As part of the deal, she will be able to claim a $2.2-million gift to the county on her federal income taxes because the contract estimates the market value of the land at $3.4 million, not the $1.3 million the county is paying.
Blacksburg tax records do not list an assessed value for the property.
The county will pay half the costs for sewer and stormwater management facilities for the county's portion of the property and any development Snyder-Falkinham might do on 48 acres she still owns on Merrimac Road.
